TEAM AQUA Reverses Momentum Against CITA Kaizen

TL;DR: TEAM AQUA ignored a 28% pre-game market call and dismantled CITA Kaizen in 27:40, winning the kill race 26-6. Although Kyte’s Yunara trailed by -1890 gold@15, Dehaste’s Akali turned TEAM AQUA’s draft edge into a brutal EM upset that closes the series.

Key Takeaways

• TEAM AQUA converted a live draft-model edge of 52% into a 26-6 kill rout, proving its execution mattered more than the market’s 28% estimate.
• Dehaste made Akali the game’s central threat with an 11/1/4 line and a 15.00 KDA, repeatedly breaking CITA Kaizen’s backline.
• Kyte overcame a -1890 GoldDiff@15 on Yunara to finish 5/1/4, showing how TEAM AQUA’s later fights erased an early bot-lane deficit.

Building the Lead

CITA Kaizen opened with the apparent lane advantage their composition wanted. Archer’s Lucian held a remarkable +1890 GoldDiff@15, while the bot lane looked positioned to give the underdogs a stable route into mid game. Yet TEAM AQUA did not need a conventional lane win to seize control.

The live draft model had favored TEAM AQUA at 52%, and that edge materialized through aggression rather than comfort. Goliah’s Qiyana posted 6/1/8 with a 14.00 KDA, finding the side angles that the draft required and turning scattered engagements into decisive numbers advantages. CITA Kaizen’s protective tools never settled into the calm, front-to-back fights they needed.

The Numbers Tell the Story

The final gold spread, 56.7k to 44.8k, captures how swiftly TEAM AQUA’s pressure became a snowball. They claimed 10 towers to 3, using their superior pick potential to strip the map away from CITA Kaizen. The dragon count was only 2 to 1 in CITA Kaizen’s favor, but those early objectives could not compensate for losing control everywhere else.

In the mid lane, Dehaste’s Akali made every opening lethal. His 11/1/4 performance punished Ophelia’s Syndra, whose 0/7/2 score reflected how little room CITA Kaizen had to reset a fight. TEAM AQUA also secured 1 barons to 0, the objective that transformed their lead from threatening into unavoidable.

The Final Push

Once the map opened, TEAM AQUA stopped allowing CITA Kaizen any safe space to farm or regroup. CloudStrike’s Lulu supplied 1/2/13 worth of protection and utility, allowing the carries to keep pushing through attempted counter-engage. The result was a one-sided close: the favored market side had the early lane advantage, but TEAM AQUA owned the game’s decisive minutes.

At 27:40, the 26-6 finish confirmed a complete reversal of pre-game expectations in EMEA Masters. CITA Kaizen had drafted answers to dive, but their answers arrived too late and too separately to halt TEAM AQUA’s relentless engage.

Polymarket Market

Polymarket made CITA Kaizen a 72% favorite and gave TEAM AQUA only 28%, so the market did not read this Game 2 correctly. The pre-game price recognized CITA Kaizen’s cleaner-looking protection and objective control, but it underestimated TEAM AQUA’s ability to force uneven fights. The live draft model’s 52% lean toward TEAM AQUA proved more accurate: Qiyana’s roaming pressure created access for Akali, while Yunara converted those openings despite the early bot-lane gold deficit. This result closes the series (), and the full series-market wrap-up belongs in the series recap.

FAQ

*Odds via Polymarket, 2026-09-21 18:37 UTC.*